Anamul not giving up

When Anamul Haque first entered the international circuit, many reckoned that Bangladesh had finally found a decent opener who Tamim Iqbal could pair up with.

He entered the scene in November 2012 during the series against the West Indies. It was a series which saw the rise of a number of youngsters for Bangladesh. Apart from Anamul, it also witnessed the arrival of the likes of Mominul Haque and Shohag Gazi.

His technique was not flawless, but he had the ability to stay at the wicket and given an opportunity he could ramp it up towards the latter stages of his innings. His ability to stick it out in the middle impressed the selectors.

He had a much better start than many of his peers. With three hundreds, two of them against the West Indies and one against Pakistan, to his name in just the first 20 games, he had plenty of runs under his belt. 

However, with time Anamul's approach lost support from the selectors and the team management. They criticised him for playing too many dot balls and not going for enough hits at the right time.

The lack of support from the team management combined with the rise of the young Soumya Sarkar and the ever-present Imrul Kayes led to Anamul gradually fading away from the national team.

The 23-year-old last represented Bangladesh during the T20 series against Zimbabwe towards the end of 2015.

Anamul, however, has not given up. He did well in the recently completed Dhaka Premier League with a strike rate of above 70 and an average of 45. But he knows it is going to be hard for him to come back. 

“I tried my best to play my natural game in the Dhaka Premier League. I know that I have a problem when it comes to rotating the strike and I tried to do that as much as possible. If I continue improving this way, maybe I can stake my claim at some point.

“There is a lot of competition in the national team at the moment. There are plenty of players who have performed well and it will be tough for me. But I am not giving up,” Anamul told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur following his training session yesterday.

“To play for the country was my childhood dream. I have always dreamt of donning the national jersey. Those who aspire to play for the country can never play selfish cricket.

“I am still the same and I still hope to wear the national jersey and play for my country again. I have some things lacking, but the good thing is that I know what I lack. I have been working hard to overcome those problems,” he added.